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By Larry, November 2, 2013 4:09 pm

Bobby Parker

Listen/Download Bobby Parker – Watch Your Step

Greetings all

This is a previously unscheduled post, prompted when word came down the line that the mighty Bobby Parker, creator of the 45 you see before – only one of the greatest ever – had slipped the surly bonds of earth and passed on to his great reward at the age of 76.

I first posted ‘Watch Your Step’ no less than eight years ago (!?!) when Funky16Corners was in its early days.

I couldn’t let the man’s passing go without re-posting this remarkable 45.

I’ll see you on Monday.

Larry

Originally Posted 9/19/05

>>I hope you’ve had your coffee….

Because this record is a floor filling, foot stomping, ass kicking, brain melting slice of blues power from which the faint of heart will not soon recover….

No, really… it’s that good.

This is one of those records that I’d read about for years (having been a major Beatles fan as a kid), but never got to hear until a few years ago (I only scored the 45 in the last month).

Did you download the track yet?

Go ahead…I’ll wait…

There. Now listen to that opening riff – ring any bells???

Hmmmm…. How about ‘I Feel Fine’ and ‘Day Tripper’ by the Beatles (or dare I say ‘Moby Dick’ by Led Zeppelin)??? This is the “UR” riff, from whence those songs sprung (after being reprocessed by John Lennon and Jimmy Page respectively).

I have to tell you. When I was 12 years old I used to play ‘I Feel Fine’ two or three times a day (It’s still one of my fave Beatle tunes), mainly because of the guitar riff, and to be honest, Bobby Parker’s original carries the Beatles version out into the alley and kicks the crap out of it.

Back in 1961, when Parker first unleashed this beast on the world, it didn’t make much of a dent in the charts*. That didn’t stop it from becoming a favorite of those in the know, spawning covers by The John Barry Seven, Spencer Davis Group, Billy Harner, Adam Faith, Tony Jackson, Manfred Mann, The Undertakers and The Walker Brothers (on their Japanese live LP)**, and making a lasting impression on the Beatles, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Carlos Santana who reportedly decided to play the guitar after seeing Parker play.

That said, it would be unfair to end the story there, because no matter how many people stole the riff, no matter how many people cite Parker as a seminal influence (and he’s still playing today), to focus solely on the peripheral aspects of ‘Watch Your Step’ is to dance around the fact that it is an absolutely shit-hot record that in a just world would have been a huge hit.

Bobby Parker was born in Louisiana and raised in California (where he worked with Don & Dewey and Johnny Otis among others). He spent the 50’s touring with the likes of Bo Diddley, Jackie Wilson, and Paul ‘Hucklebuck’ Williams , and recorded his first record ‘Blues Get Off My Shoulder’ for VeeJay in 1958 (this is the record that Robert Plant has cited as the reason he started singing).

He relocated to Washington, DC in 1961, where he would build a rep playing local clubs. He waxed ‘Watch Your Step’ for Philadelphia’s V-Tone label (associated with the Len label) in 1961 (it was actually released twice in the UK, on London in 1961 and Sue in 1964).

The record opens with a fanfare (as any disc this mighty should), which is followed (after a short dramatic pause) by Parker’s smoking guitar, and the rolling, Latin-flavored drums (another part of ‘Watch Your Step’ that would end up in ‘I Feel Fine’).

Parker’s vocal – sounding like Ray Charles and Bobby Bland had a rocking baby – wails powerfully through the verses, being chased by the horn section. The tempo builds through the song as Parker is joined by backing vocals and a hot little sax solo. Parker has been described as a cross between Buddy Guy and James Brown, and it’s not hard to imagine him working up a sweat on stage with this one.

Parker would record sporadically through the 60’s, waxing a 45 (‘I Won’t Believe It Till I See It’ as Little Bobby Parker) for the ultra-rare DC soul label Shrine, where the Cautions would record a version of ‘Watch Your Step’.

He also toured in the UK where he would record for the Blue Horizon label in 1968 (the same label that released the earliest Fleetwood Mac albums).

Though he toured relentlessly (and was a major hit in DC area blues clubs), he wouldn’t record again until the early 90’s for the Blacktop label.

Keep an eye peeled for a PBS special called ‘John Lennon’s Jukebox’ which features a recent interview with Parker as part of a fascinating look into what Lennon was listening to during the Beatles peak years.

Keep the faith

Larry

*I was stunned to discover that ‘Watch Your Step’ did not hit the national R&B charts at all, hitting the pop charts regionally, almost exclusively on the west coast

*’Watch Your Step’ was also covered in the 70’s by Dr. Feelgood, in the 80’s by Santana, and in the 90’s by the Kaisers

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, October 29, 2013 11:33 am

Soul City (above) Little Caesar (below)

Listen/Download The Soul City – Everybody Dance Now

Listen/Download Little Caesar and the Empire – Everybody Dance Now (Vocal)

Listen/Download Little Caesar and the Empire – Everybody Dance Now (Instrumental)

Greetings all

Welcome to the middle of the week.

The tune(s) I bring to you this fine day bring with them something of a mystery.

The world of soul is filled with re-used/repurposed backing tracks (check out the recent copycats/covers edition of the Funky16Corners Radio Show for some examples).

‘Everybody Dance Now’ by the Soul City is one of those explosive party-starters that soul collectors and DJs are always on the lookout for.

The first time I heard it (via Kris Holmes Sunday Shuffle show) I knew I had to have a copy for my box, and it didn’t take too long to score one.

I know nothing of the group, or the label, though the comments on the Youtube video of the flipside ‘Who Knows’ seem to indicate that the Soul City may have also recorded under the name The Royal Robins on the Tru-Glo-Town label.

Where it gets (more) interesting, is that while I was trying to track down info on the Soul City, I discovered that that there was another version of the song (employing the same backing track) by Little Caesar and the Empire on Cameo/Parkway.

It took me a little bit longer to track down a copy of that disc, but when I did I got a pleasant surprise indeed.

The Little Caesar and the Empire disc included an instrumental dub of the song on its b-side, making it a fantastic companion piece for DJs that might want to mix the vocal and instrumental together for the dance floor.

As it turns out, Little Caesar and the Empire were led by Robert ‘Bocky’ Di Pasquale, who had been the leader of the Ohio-based white R&B group Bocky and the Visions.

While I dig the vocal on the Soul City version a little bit more, Bocky acquits himself nicely, and I think either version would go over on the dance floor equally well.

The Soul City 45 was popular on the UK soul scene, being a popular spin at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester.

While these 45s don’t turn up that often, when they do they aren’t particularly expensive (though the UK issue of the Soul City 45 can get up there in price).

I hope you dig the sounds and I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, October 27, 2013 10:57 am

Harvey Mandel

Listen/Download Harvey Mandel – Wade In the Water Pt1

Listen/Download Harvey Mandel – Wade In the Water Pt2

Greetings all

We’re going to start off the week with something a little special.

We return – after a little more than a year – to the old Funky16Corners/Iron Leg Twin Spin.

I’m not sure why I haven’t done one of these in a while, since my brain is always making connections like this (not sure if it was working like that before I started writing about music or if it’s something that developed concurrently).

The song featured today is one of my all-time favorites, ‘Wade In the Water’ (featured here a few months back by the John Bishop Trio). ‘Wade In the Water’ is a spiritual that goes back well over a century, and has been interpreted countless times in both gospel and secular settings.

It was about a year ago that I was tuned in to my man Kris Holmes’s radio show and he dropped the mind-bending track you see before you today.

Upon first listen, I thought I was hearing an unreleased Soulful Strings cut, or at least something that had the involvement of Richard Evans. I immediately popped open a messaging window and asked Kris who I was hearing.

The answer was, Harvey Mandel.

If you’ve spent a large part of your life reading about, and listening to music, Harvey Mandel is one of those names that pops up frequently (especially in the late 60s) enough to make itself known, but never prominently enough to explain why.

After a little digging, I discovered that Mandel was – for a hot minute at the end of the 60s – one of those free-range, guitar gunslingers who seemed to be everywhere.

He got his start in Chicago, playing with Charlie Musselwhite, before findig his way (like so many others) out to San Francisco. He recorded his first solo album, ‘Cristo Redentor’ (which included ‘Wade In the Water’) in 1968, splitting his time between Los Angeles and Nashville.

Mandel’s version of ‘Wade In the Water’ kicks the door down with a big, fat drumbreak (‘Fast’ Eddie Hoh on the kit, Armando Peraza on congas) before the piano* and bass join in (in unison), paving the way for the strings and the many voices of Harvey’s guitar.

When Mandel starts playing, he layers on the fuzz, before switching to a clearer, more ringing tone.

The string arrangement is by Nick DeCaro, who worked in a wide variety of pop settings (Randy Newman, Lorraine Ellison, Little Feat) as an arranger and producer through the 60s and 70s.

Mandel’s ‘Wade In the Water’ manages to tap into a certain soul jazz feel and still be deeply psychedelic. Presenting it as an instrumental (certainly not the first, Ramsey Lewis had a fairly significant hit with his version in 1966 (R&B #3, Pop #19, and a big Northern side) illustrates how powerful the melody is.

If it seems simple it is only a mark of the perfection of its structure, which in turn allows an improviser like Mandel to run circles around it without ever losing sight of its core.

‘Wade In the Water’ is one of those songs that sounds like something deeper/elemental. That it has been around as long (longer) as recorded music, and is the very definition of ‘spiritual’, in the broadest, Joseph Campbell sense of the word makes versions like this (and the one I have posted over at Iron Leg) cut so deep.

‘Wade In the Water’ (pulled from the 45, so you get it in two, juicy parts) is a heavy, heavy record, great for your head (in a hippie stylee) or just for your ears.

I hope you dig it, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry  

*Note – Thanks to Monk1950 for letting me know that the piano player was NOT the famed guitarist but a different person entirely. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page. Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).   PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, October 20, 2013 12:41 pm

The Toys

Listen/Download The Toys – Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby

Greetings all

Welcome to another week of soulful excellence here at Funky16Corners.

The tune I bring you today is an old favorite of mine.

Truth be told, the first verison I heard – and still one of my favorites – was by Question Mark and the Mysterians.
‘Can’t Get Enough of You Baby’ was a top 50 hit for Rudy and the boys in 1967.

During the 1980s the song was covered by the UK group the Colour Field in a fairly faithful (to the Question Mark version) rendering.

What I didn’t know when I was spinning that one back in 1985, was that the song had a deeper history, having been recorded twice before the Mysterians got their hooks into it.

Written by Denny Randell and Sandy Linzer, ‘Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby’ was waxed twice in 1966, by the Four Seasons, and by the group I bring to you today, The Toys.

Known to most for their 1965 mega-hit ‘A Lovers Concerto’ (#4 R&B, #2 Pop), the Toys, Barbara Harris, June Montiero and Barbara Parritt had a run of singles from 1965 to 1968 for the Dynovoice and Musicor labels.

Their version of ‘Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby’ is taken at a slightly more relaxed pace that the Four Seasons version (with a much cooler, more restrained arrangement) with just enough kick to get the dancers moving.

Oddly enough, if you listen closely you can hear some talking in the background at the beginning of the track.

Since most subsequent recordings of the song were modeled on the Question Mark and the Mysterians arrangement, it was a little jarring at first not to hear the combo organ, but the throbbing bass and rhythmic piano more than make up for it.

Interestingly enough, while ‘Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby’ went nowhere, its flipside ‘Silver Spoon’ (like A Lovers Concerto, adapted from a classical piece, Beethoven’s ‘Pathetique Sonata’) scraped the outer reaches of the Top 100 in 1966.

The Toys last chart placing was a cover of Bryan Hyland’s ‘Sealed With a Kiss’ in 1968.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (2)

By Larry, September 29, 2013 1:50 pm

Kin Vassy (top) and at left with the First Edition

John Randolph Marr

Listen/Download Kin Vassy – Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham

Listen/Download The First Edition – Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham (Live)

Listen/Download John Randolph Marr – Hello L.A. Bye Bye Birmingham

Greetings all

I have something very special for you today.

A short time ago I met up with someone on Facebook with whom I had a mutual friend.

While perusing his timeline I saw that he had posted a video by the First Edition doing a song I’d never heard before called ‘Hello LA Bye Bye Birmingham’.

If the name of that group is vaguely familiar, it was the spawning ground of none other than Kenny Rogers, and a band that had a couple of major hits, including their 1968 cover of Mickey Newbury’s ‘I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)’, which is featured prominently in ‘The Big Lebowski’.

Anyway…I gave the aforementioned video a spin and was blown away.

First off, while I own (and dig) a couple of First Edition singles, I had never heard them do anything like ‘Hello LA…’, and the live performance – from their early 70s TV variety show (included below) – is absolutely smoking.

The real revelation was the lead singer of the song, a cat named Kin Vassy.

Vassy (Kin was a truncated version of his middle name, Kindred) was the singer/guitarist with the First Edition, replacing Mike Settle in 1969.

He had been a member of the 60s folk group the Back Porch Majority, and had recorded a couple of solo singles before hooking up (and apparently during his tenure) with the First Edition.

One of these is today’s selection, ‘Hello LA Bye Bye Birmingham’.

When I started digging around I was surprised that I hadn’t encountered the song before.

Co-written by Mac Davis and Delaney Bramlett, it was recorded by a wide variety of artists, including Blue Cheer, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band,  Juicy Lucy, and even Nancy Sinatra (you can seek out many of these on YouTube).

The popularity of the song doesn’t surprise me, since it has the kind of funky framework that works well at just about any speed, as well as a fantastic lyric about a cat that bags his home turf and goes on the road to seek success as a songwriter.

Though Mac Davis did record it. I haven’t been able to nail down who did the original version, since most of the ones I’ve found seem to pop up around the same time.

One other excellent version of the song (also included here) was recorded in 1969 by John Randolph Marr. It is in fact his version that was recently comped by Light In the Attic on their excellent ‘Country Funk’ collection, which brings me to the point I’ve been wanting to make.

There was something in the air (and the recording studios) of the South in the mid-to-late 60s and onward wherein (mostly) white musicians with a taste for gospel, R&B, soul and funk began to stir up a (if you’ll forgive the term) gumbo of those sounds with country, swamp pop and rock.

The most well-known and successful proponents of this sound were guys like Tony Joe White and Joe South, but you can also include folks like Bobbie Gentry and Davis in the mix as well.

While there’s a temptation to affix the term ‘blue eyed soul’ to some of these sounds, I think what we’re dealing with is something else entirely.

There were plenty of white soul singers working during this time period, including guys like Wayne Cochran and Roy Head, but they were by and large working solely in black styles.

The country funkers (for lack of a better term) were coming into their sound by creating an organic mixture of white and black styles, in the end creating something less than a movement but still a recognizable sound.

Little of the music made by these artists is out and out funk, but it is undeniably funky.

Kin Vassy’s studio version of ‘Hello LA Bye Bye Birmingham’ works a mid-tempo funky beat, adding in twangy lead guitar (dobro, too) and Vassy’s hard-edged, soulful vocals. Hearing Vassy sing, with the First Edition and solo was something of a revelation. He was a mighty singer, and in an age where every leather-lunged, longhaired shouter was trying to approximate Wilson Pickett (who would have done a spectacular version of this song), Vassy was able to soar as well as work the quiet passages.

The First Edition manages (surprisingly enough) to toughen the song up even more. Vassy is wailing and drummer Mickey Jones dials up the funk a bit.

I decided to include John Randolph Marr’s take on the song for contrast. Though he takes things a slightly slower pace, the drums and bass are killing it, and Marr had cool, whiskey-tinged voice (I hear a bit of David Clayton Thomas in there). The rest of the album – co-produced by Harry Nilsson under the aegis of his Nilsson House Productions – is an odd mix of country soul and chamber pop.

Interestingly enough, after the dissolution of the First Edition, Kin Vassy spent a short time recording and touring with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. He’s featured on the ‘Overnight Sensation’ LP.

He went on to work as a session singer/musician, eventually settling in Nashville and having some success as a performer and songwriter.

Sadly, Kin Vassy succumbed to cancer in 1994 at the age of 50.

I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, September 12, 2013 12:19 pm

Irene Reid

Listen/Download Irene Reid – Son of a Preacher Man

Greetings all

It’s almost Friday, so might I urge you once again to tune in to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, which takes to the airwaves of the interwebs this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio. You can also subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes or grab yourself and MP3 at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is yet another great example of one of those singers that came from jazz roots, but was able (like Della Reese, Marlena Shaw, Amanda Ambrose and many more) to work successfully in a soul/funk style.

The singer of today’s selection is the late, great Irene Reid.

I first encountered Reid via her funky, late 60s recording of ‘Dirty Old Man’ and only became aware of her jazz background – albums for MGM and Verve – long after I started dropping that 45 in funk sets.

I picked up the album you see before you today (1971’s ‘The World Needs What I Need’) a few years back while digging in Philly, picking it up on the strength of Reid’s voice, but also because of the presence of a couple of interesting cover versions.

Reid’s big, brassy take on Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ is a great vehicle for Reid’s sharp, powerful voice and the arrangement manages to be fairly funky, with the strings used sparingly enough that the guitar, bass and drums lead prominently.

Reid continued to record her R&B-inflected jazz for a variety of labels into the early 2000s.

She passed away in 2008.

As always, Ihope you dig the sounds, and I’ll see you all on Monday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (4)

By Larry, September 1, 2013 10:53 am

John Bishop and his guitar, looking badass.

Listen/Download John Bishop Trio – Wade In the Water

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

The summer is finally at and end, at least the part of the summer marked by the invasion of the great horde, which tends to recede right around Labor Day, leaving the beaches to us locals for a few precious weeks.

The fam and I had the opportunity to vacate in the latter half of August, during which the wife and I had our own little getaway.

Naturally, that included a little bit of record digging (doesn’t it always) which resulted in a nice fat stack of new additions to my crates, here and over at Iron Leg.

I always enjoy stepping out of my own little vinyl ecosystem and into a new one, where the ebb and flow of wax is different, the stock is new (at least to me) and not quite as picked over as what I’m used to.

There aren’t too many opportunities of that nature where I live, so it’s a gas when I get my mitts on some stuff that I haven’t seen/heard before.

Keep your eyes peeled for the results of said excavations in these pages.

The tune I bring you today is one of those great intersections of a song I love and a particularly hot performance.

‘Wade In the Water’ is a spiritual that goes back well over a century, which is why the writing credits on this version – to Sam Cooke and JW Alexander – are odd, but that is neither here nor there, especially when you consider how often people were slapping their names on public domain compositions in order to pick up a little scratch.

It has long been one of my favorite songs and I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up records with versions of it (like I do with ’Soul Makossa’) wherever I find them.

I had been on the lookout for the record you see before you today – ‘Bishop’s Whirl’ by the John Bishop Trio – for years. While it’s not particularly scarce, it eluded me nonetheless so I was happy to score a copy at a nice price.

John Bishop (born Gregory Ceurvorst) was a Chicago-based guitarist who ended up touring with Ray Charles (thus the Tangerine label) in the late 60s. He also played with Donny Hathaway, Ramsey Lewis and the Staple Singers among others.

His version of ‘Wade In the Water’ – the full album edit is included here, there is a much shorter version on 45 – is smoking, with exceptional work by Bishop on guitar and organist Newell Burton, Jr. Bishop goes into a blazing solo around the three-minute mark that explodes around 4:15.

It is an exceptional bit of hard-charging soul jazz, generating enough heat for the dancers (the 45 has a minor following with the Northern Soul crowd).

I haven’t been able to nail down whether or not this was Bishop’s touring band, or a group put together for the date. Burton was a Sacramento-based organist, and the bassist on the record, Jerry Scheff is a renowned session player who started a long stint touring with Elvis Presley around the time that this album was recorded.

That said, the rest of the album – with the exception of the soulful ‘Way Out Back’ – is fairly straight ahead jazz.

Bishop settled in Chicago, where he played with his wife in the Georgia Frances Orchestra, until his passing in 2011 at the age of 65.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, August 18, 2013 2:46 pm

Effie Smith

Listen/Download Effie Smith – Teenage World Pts 1&2

Listen/Download Effie Smith – Harper Valley PTA Gossip

Greetings all

I hope the new week finds you well.

The tunes I bring you today are artifacts of (the end of) a time when an artist could settle themselves in a niche and ride it for all it was worth.

I picked up Effie Smith’s ‘Harper Valley PTA Gossip’ years ago (pre-portable) and when I got it home I was pleasantly surprised to discover a sassy old lady engaged in a telephone conversation. The rap was based (see title…) on Jeannie C Riley’s 1968 mega-hit ‘Harper Valley PTA’, and it was groovy in an ‘Aunt Esther goes funky’ way.

Flash forward about half a decade, and I’m down in DC spinning (and digging, natch) at a record show and what do I turn up but a whole album of Effie Smith telephone raps!

The thought of a performer working a gag so thoroughly hasn’t been in vogue since the crest of the Bill Seluga ‘You Can Call me Ray’ wave, and I had to admire her persistence.

As it turns out, Effie Smith had been working it out in the world of jazz and R&B since the 1930s (?!?), working with Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter and Johnny Otis.

It is important to note that Effie was also mother to the one and only producer/songwriter Fred Smith, a very familiar name to fans of LA soul.

The first track I bring you today will be familiar to those of you that listen to the Funky16Corners Radio Show, from my use of a drop from ‘Teenage World Pts 1&2’ (1965). The voice of the husband was provided by Effie’s real life spouse,  John Criner.

The second track is the aforementioned ‘Harper Valley PTA Gossip’, which grazed the R&B Top 40 in November of 1968.

Effie Smith passed away in 1977 at the age of 63.

I hope you dig the tracks, and I’ll see you all on Wednesday.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (0)

By Larry, July 30, 2013 3:28 pm

Ronnie Dyson (above),and the wrong side of the record (below)

Listen/Download Ronnie Dyson- Fever

Greetings all

The track I bring you today is proof that every once in a while you need to hit the LP racks as well as digging through the 45s.

I grabbed Ronnie Dyson’s debut LP ‘(If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You’ because I’d never seen it before, I dug the title cut (a hit in 1970) and because it had some interesting looking covers in the track listing.

When I got it home and set to digimatizing I was pleasantly surprised indeed, especially by today’s selection, Dyson’s cover of Little Willie John’s* ‘Fever’.

Dyson, who got his start as the lead in the original company of ‘HAIR’ in 1968 (and also appeared in Putney Swope) first sang ‘(If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You’ in an off-Broadway show called ‘Salvation’.

He was signed to Columbia records, making it into the R&B Top 10 (and #13 Pop) in July of 1970.

The album of the same name features covers of Freda Payne’s ‘Band of Gold’ and Bread’s ‘Make it With You’, which, while not as epic as Ralfi Pagan’s version, is still pretty cool.

I especially like Dyson’s version of ‘Fever’ because it has a hard driving, Northern Soul feel to it.

As it turns out, the cut has a minor following with the soulies, and would probably be a lot bigger if it were available on 45.

Dyson had a string of R&B hits between 1970 and 1983, including his biggest hit, ‘The More You Do It (The More I Like It Done To Me)’ – he sure loved those parenthetical titles – in 1976.

Tragically, he was only 40 when he died of heart failure in 1990.

I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll see you on Friday.

Keep the faith

Larry

* Written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (3)

By Larry, July 25, 2013 3:59 pm

The Blossoms, Darlene Love, bottom left

Listen/Download The Blossoms – Soul and Inspiration

Greetings all

The end of another week is at hand, and that means that the Funky16Corners Radio Show is as well. We come to you each and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio with the finest in funk, soul, jazz and rare groove, all on original vinyl.

If you can’t be there at airtime, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab and MP3 download here at the blog.

The tune I bring you today is another one of those great 45s where an artist relegated to a supporting role gets their chance to move to the front of the stage.

If you are a music fan or record collector, the name of the Blossoms will surely be a familiar one, especially in relation to the oeuvre of Phil Spector.

As an important part of his studio “machine”, the Blossoms lent their backing (and sometimes lead) vocals to any number of Spector-related projects.

The trio, which included Darlene (Wright) Love, Jean King, Fanita James (and for a time Gloria Jones) were a crucial part of groups like Bobb B Soxx and the Blue Jeans, and the Crystals, as well as backing just about everyone else that Spector recorded, as well as touring with both Elvis Presley and Tom Jones.

They also recorded a number of 45s under their own name for labels like Challenge, Reprise, Ode, MGM, Bell, Lion and Epic during the 60s and 70s.

I found today’s selection last year, and was intrigued by the fact that it had the Blossoms covering a Righteous Brothers hit (‘Soul and Inspiration’) produced by Righteous Brother #1, Bill Medley.

What I didn’t know at the time, was that during the late 60s, Darlene Love and Bill Medley were a couple.

The Blossoms 1969 version of the song divests it of some of the bombast of the 1966 original (also produced by Medley), replacing it with a more relaxed, soulful approach (though, oddly, both arrangements are credited to Bill Baker).

Love’s lead vocal is – predictably – excellent, and the group harmonies are spot on.

Despite its obvious high quality, ‘Soul and Inspiration’, like the rest of the Blossoms discography (save 1967s ‘Good Good Lovin’ which made it to #45 R&B) failed to make a dent in the charts. It did see a UK issue on the Pama label in 1970.

The flipside, ‘Stand By’ has a much earlier feel to it.

I hope you dig the sounds, and that you all have a great weekend.

See you on Monday

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, July 18, 2013 11:24 am

Harvey Averne

Listen/Download Harvey Averne Band – Run Away Child Running Wild

Greetings all

The end of the week is nigh, so I will instruct you once again to twist the knobs on your Radiola until you dial into the Funky16Corners Radio Show, this and every Friday night at 9PM on Viva Radio.

If you are otherwise disposed, you can subscribe to the show as a podcast in iTunes, or grab an MP3 download out of the archive at the blog.

The cut I bring you today is an especially tasty bit of Latin funk, which I featured in an old Funky16Corners Radio mix back in the day.

If you have even a passing knowledge of the world of Latin soul and boogaloo, then the name Harvey Averne should be a familiar one.

Through the 60s and 70s, Averne was one of the major proponents of New York-based Latin soul and funk (and eventually salsa).

A vibraphonist and bandleader, Averne, like Latin music giant Larry Harlow, was not latino at all, but rather a Jew from the outer boroughs of New York.

The recordings he made in the 60s, for labels like Atlantic, Fania and Uptite are prime examples of the sound, and big favorites of mine as well.

The track I bring you today is a cover of the Temptations 1969 hit ‘Run Away Child (Running Wild)’.

You get lots of groovy piano, Latin percussion, and of course Avernes ringing vibes laying down a very cool version of the Whitfield/Strong classic.

Released in either 1969 or 1970 (I haven’t been able to nail down the date), ‘Runaway Child (Running Wild)’ is another great example of Averne taking source material from outside the Latin world and laying a little sabor in the grooves.

His treatment of the Temps classic is every bit as danceable as the OG, and then some.

Uptite was a very interesting label, releasing only 45s on between 1969 and 1971 by Averne, Joe Bataan, the 125th St Candy Store, Parrish and a few others.

Most of the 45s aren’t too hard to come by, with the marked exception of Averne’s ‘Never Learned To Dance’ which is exceptionally rare and expensive.

I hope you dig the sounds and I’ll see you in a few days.

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.

Comments (1)

By Larry, June 30, 2013 11:01 am

Ray Charles

Listen/Download – Ray Charles – Sticks and Stones

Greetings all.

The next couple of weeks will be jam packed with events here at Funky16Corners central, so I’ll be republishing some of my favorite tunes from the Funky16Corners Archives. I hope you dig the sounds, and I’ll be back soon.

Larry

Originally Posted 12/01/2009

>>Greetings all.

The week is well underway, and I am currently immersed in an object lesson on how no schedule ever goes un-F’ed-with, ever.

Not that I had a lot on my plate anyway (nothing hard and fast) but I sit here with not one but two sick children, and I have just been informed by the plumber that the existing shower apparatus needs to be replaced (not a small job).

I had a nice hot cup of coffee, and peeled a couple of delicious clementines, but not even those gustatory wonders have proven powerful enough to set things right.

It is in that spirit that I bring you not the song I was planning on posting today, but rather something I was listening to on the MP3 delivery device last night as I was struggling to get back to sleep (sick child related). The song in question is something I digimatized last year, and promptly forgot about. I tend to record vinyl in lots (as they are amassed in the wholly disorganized “new arrivals” pile) and then transfer them onto the iPod, organized in playlists. Once they’re in place, I listen to them as much as possible to “explore” the music, deciding what I want to post and when.

So, last night I’m prowling around inside some older playlists to see if there was anything I had neglected, and lo and behold Brother Ray pops his head up, admonishes me for passing him over and giving me a (figurative, and soulful) smack upside the head.

The odd thing is – and this has happened before – Ray Charles is a musician that I pretty much worship, and the likelihood is that I failed to post ‘Sticks and Stones’ sooner, not out of neglect but because I was waiting for a slot to open that would do a record like this justice. I over-thought the matter, and forgot all about it (until last night).

It bears mentioning that the first time I heard ‘Sticks and Stones’, it was not as performed by Ray Charles, but rather as a cover by the great mod revivalists the Secret Service sometime around 1985/86, not doubt on the stage of the legendary Dive in New York City.

Unlike some of their more Jam-influenced brethren, the Secret Service drew heavily from the sounds of soul and R&B as previously recycled by the first wave British Invasion acts. It was via their playlists that I first heard Rodge Martin’s ‘Lovin’ Machine’ (which they picked up from an Easybeats video), and today’s selection, which they no doubt heard via the 1964 cover by the Zombies.

‘Sticks and Stones’, written by Titus Turner and Henry Glover (though only Turner is credited on this 45) is a classic, and a stellar example of how Ray Charles – seldom thought of as an out and out soul singer –  was one of the (maybe THE) most important transitional/formative figures bridging R&B and soul. Released in 1960, his version of ‘Sticks and Stones’ is a powerhouse, with a rolling quasi-latin beat (see ‘What’d I Say’) and an electric piano solo that sounds like so much lightning shooting from the master’s fingers.

It’s a brilliant performance, and proof once again that any self respecting fan of music (any genre) needs to get some Ray Charles in their life (and ears).

I hope you dig it and I’ll be back on Friday with some funk.<<

Keep the faith

Larry

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived!

The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock.

They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US).

Click here to go to the ordering page.
Also, make sure that you check out the links below to the Be The Match Foundation and POAC (click on the logos for more info).

PS Head over to Iron Leg too.